Sometimes life just isn't fair...,
That's an old cliché..., but, what does it mean? If you are born into the American Kennedy Klan, it certainly doesn't apply to you. Old man Joseph Kennedy was a successful bootlegger during Prohibition.., converted his ill-gotten gains into Stocks on Wall Street when the market crashed..., when someone is selling their stocks for pennies on the dollar, somebody has to be buying. Joe Kennedy was the head of the Securities Exchange Commission..., did a little "insider trading", and lo-and-behold..., if your name is Kennedy, you never have to work an honest day in your life.
If you are born into a Royal Saudi family, you are born a billionaire. The world is your personal playground..., you can do whatever you like..., wherever you like..., and there's not a blessed thing anyone can do to stop you. Oh, I know..., most other Saudi citizens literally don't have a pot to pee in..., but if you are a Royal..., well, that's not really any concern of yours, is it?
Last week, Donnie Marcum died. If you're not from around here, the name probably doesn't ring a bell. I was his high school football coach.., for only one season. When the county opened a new high school in 1988, I went there as the head coach. The first day, this kid shows up wanting to play. I had coached his older brother in track & field a few years earlier..., his brother Mike was a terrific kid, so I thought, "Why not?" He was a senior, but maybe we could teach him enough to allow him to have a little fun. So, Donnie was now a football player.
Our first game, Donnie never got off the bench..., He was trying to play tailback, and we happened to have a couple of pretty good ones. We played very well, but we lost the school's first football game. The opponent was a great team, with a storied history in football, so we were encouraged to play them a close game.
Game two..., we traveled a good distance to our next opponent..., spirits and expectations were high. The kids played great, and we jumped out to a lead..., then, we began to have injuries..., it was hot, and our kids also were wearing down..., if the game didn't end soon, that team was going to stage a comeback and beat us. Finally, in the 4th quarter, our defense made a valiant stand, and stopped the other team just short of the goal line..., but, we got the ball back on our own 5 yard line. We were 1 point in the lead. We had already lost our starting tailback to injury..., on the 1st down, our second tailback was hurt..., we put in Donnie..., on 2nd down, we gave the ball to our fullback..., he was stopped for a loss...., now, we were on the 4 yard line..., we might not have room even to punt...,
I called timeout, and trotted out to the huddle..., I told the kids we had to move the ball away from the goal line, or the other team would block our punt, and we would lose. I turned to Donnie and told him to hold on to the ball with both hands..., run behind his fullback..., and just try to get us a couple of yards..., I was surprised at how calm he appeared..., serious..., all business...,
Our kids broke the huddle before I even made it back to our sideline..., I turned just in time to see the quarterback receive the ball from the center..., he spun and handed the ball off to Donnie..., Donnie took one short step.., cut to his right and sprinted toward the sideline..., he left everyone in his trail..., another sharp cut, and Donnie set out for the goal line, 96 yards away...., when he crossed the goal line for a touchdown, the other team was at least 20 yards behind...., that boy was fast...,
We won!
Donnie was a legend overnight..., he ran for many more touchdowns that year...., in the spring, he pitched against the best baseball team in the state..., we won..., and in doing so we won the District Championship...., anything Donnie setout to do, he finished..., always serious..., always calm.
A few years after graduation, we heard some awful news..., Donnie had a leg amputated..., he was only 21 and had circulation problems..., he was in danger of losing his other leg...., the kids at our school all remembered Donnie..., most of our students had been in middle school when Donnie roamed our halls, but the kids remembered him..., they all gave up their lunch money for a day, and donated it toward sending Donnie to the Mayo Clinic...,
The diagnosis?
Acute reaction to "nicotine"! Donnie was a smoker.
Donnie managed to keep his leg..., but, other ailments kept cropping up..., and he whipped them one by one....,
I had breakfast with Donnie a couple of months ago..., he was selling raffle tickets..., the winner would win a pistol. I don't think it was legal.., I bought 10 tickets. He was using the money to pay medical bills..., he didn't want to leave this world while still in debt..., the end was imminent..., and it was closing fast. This was one race that Donnie couldn't win.
And then...., he died. I didn't go to the funeral. I had already said goodbye over breakfast..., and that was how I wanted to remember Donnie..., the kid that nobody could chase down had run his last race, and tobacco won. Donnie Marcum fought the good fight, but in the end, tobacco won again. Tobacco always does.
Sometimes life just isn't fair....,
That's an old cliché..., but, what does it mean? If you are born into the American Kennedy Klan, it certainly doesn't apply to you. Old man Joseph Kennedy was a successful bootlegger during Prohibition.., converted his ill-gotten gains into Stocks on Wall Street when the market crashed..., when someone is selling their stocks for pennies on the dollar, somebody has to be buying. Joe Kennedy was the head of the Securities Exchange Commission..., did a little "insider trading", and lo-and-behold..., if your name is Kennedy, you never have to work an honest day in your life.
If you are born into a Royal Saudi family, you are born a billionaire. The world is your personal playground..., you can do whatever you like..., wherever you like..., and there's not a blessed thing anyone can do to stop you. Oh, I know..., most other Saudi citizens literally don't have a pot to pee in..., but if you are a Royal..., well, that's not really any concern of yours, is it?
Last week, Donnie Marcum died. If you're not from around here, the name probably doesn't ring a bell. I was his high school football coach.., for only one season. When the county opened a new high school in 1988, I went there as the head coach. The first day, this kid shows up wanting to play. I had coached his older brother in track & field a few years earlier..., his brother Mike was a terrific kid, so I thought, "Why not?" He was a senior, but maybe we could teach him enough to allow him to have a little fun. So, Donnie was now a football player.
Our first game, Donnie never got off the bench..., He was trying to play tailback, and we happened to have a couple of pretty good ones. We played very well, but we lost the school's first football game. The opponent was a great team, with a storied history in football, so we were encouraged to play them a close game.
Game two..., we traveled a good distance to our next opponent..., spirits and expectations were high. The kids played great, and we jumped out to a lead..., then, we began to have injuries..., it was hot, and our kids also were wearing down..., if the game didn't end soon, that team was going to stage a comeback and beat us. Finally, in the 4th quarter, our defense made a valiant stand, and stopped the other team just short of the goal line..., but, we got the ball back on our own 5 yard line. We were 1 point in the lead. We had already lost our starting tailback to injury..., on the 1st down, our second tailback was hurt..., we put in Donnie..., on 2nd down, we gave the ball to our fullback..., he was stopped for a loss...., now, we were on the 4 yard line..., we might not have room even to punt...,
I called timeout, and trotted out to the huddle..., I told the kids we had to move the ball away from the goal line, or the other team would block our punt, and we would lose. I turned to Donnie and told him to hold on to the ball with both hands..., run behind his fullback..., and just try to get us a couple of yards..., I was surprised at how calm he appeared..., serious..., all business...,
Our kids broke the huddle before I even made it back to our sideline..., I turned just in time to see the quarterback receive the ball from the center..., he spun and handed the ball off to Donnie..., Donnie took one short step.., cut to his right and sprinted toward the sideline..., he left everyone in his trail..., another sharp cut, and Donnie set out for the goal line, 96 yards away...., when he crossed the goal line for a touchdown, the other team was at least 20 yards behind...., that boy was fast...,
We won!
Donnie was a legend overnight..., he ran for many more touchdowns that year...., in the spring, he pitched against the best baseball team in the state..., we won..., and in doing so we won the District Championship...., anything Donnie setout to do, he finished..., always serious..., always calm.
A few years after graduation, we heard some awful news..., Donnie had a leg amputated..., he was only 21 and had circulation problems..., he was in danger of losing his other leg...., the kids at our school all remembered Donnie..., most of our students had been in middle school when Donnie roamed our halls, but the kids remembered him..., they all gave up their lunch money for a day, and donated it toward sending Donnie to the Mayo Clinic...,
The diagnosis?
Acute reaction to "nicotine"! Donnie was a smoker.
Donnie managed to keep his leg..., but, other ailments kept cropping up..., and he whipped them one by one....,
I had breakfast with Donnie a couple of months ago..., he was selling raffle tickets..., the winner would win a pistol. I don't think it was legal.., I bought 10 tickets. He was using the money to pay medical bills..., he didn't want to leave this world while still in debt..., the end was imminent..., and it was closing fast. This was one race that Donnie couldn't win.
And then...., he died. I didn't go to the funeral. I had already said goodbye over breakfast..., and that was how I wanted to remember Donnie..., the kid that nobody could chase down had run his last race, and tobacco won. Donnie Marcum fought the good fight, but in the end, tobacco won again. Tobacco always does.
Sometimes life just isn't fair....,
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